


So Now What?

by Cali_brate



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Filbrick Pines Is A Jerk, Ford Pines is a Good Brother, Gen, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Protective Stan Pines, Stan Pines is a Good Brother, Time Travel, blatant disregard for canon time and dimensional travel rules, it's my fic and i get to choose the canon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-20
Updated: 2020-08-23
Packaged: 2021-03-02 22:40:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 17,510
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24294502
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cali_brate/pseuds/Cali_brate
Summary: Stan is given a chance to go back to before he broke Ford's project, and he figures, "why not?". But this is the Pines family we're talking about. Things couldn't be that simple.
Relationships: Dipper Pines & Ford Pines & Mabel Pines & Stan Pines, Ford Pines & Stan Pines
Comments: 46
Kudos: 205





	1. Time travel, man! Why you gotta be so complicated?

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! This was originally just going to be a oneshot. But now we're here, I guess.

“Well then, you better come visit me on the other side of the country!” Ford smiled.

Stan looked down at his hands. The years had been taken away from them, making them almost unrecognizable.

“Stan? You alright?”

“Heh, yeah Sixer. I’ll make sure to visit”

He watched as Ford got up and left, leaving him on the swings by himself. So the kids were serious about this.

_“Grunkle Stan! You’ll never guess where we were!” Mabel’s cheerful yelp startling him. Looking up, he sees his great niece and nephew looking a bit worse for wear, but big smiles on their faces. A glowing orb with an hour glass floats between them. Not the weirdest thing Stan had seen in a long time._

“ _You two get in a fight or something?”_

“ _YEAH! It’s called Globnar! We met the time travel guy again and-”_

_Stan stopped paying attention after a moment, figuring if Mabel was this excited whatever had happened wasn’t too bad._

_“Anyway, we thought we’d give you the time wish!” Dipper cut in, shutting Mabel off halfway through her recount of the battle._

Stan should’ve known better, and believed the kids saying the glowing orb could do anything. But he didn’t, so here he was, 40 years younger with a chance to change the future.

Getting Ford back had been his purpose for 30 years. But that punch had stung. And now he wasn't sure what to do.

He stood up from the swing. This version of Ford was still his brother. He hadn’t been kicked out of his home. He hadn’t spent years as a lone grifter. He was going to change the future, or something.

Walking back into his childhood home for the first time felt wrong. Ford was excitedly talking to their mother, their father was uninterested and reading the newspaper. Stan stood there, lost. After being kicked out he had spent the better part of a year imagining how it would feel to walk back into his home. But, after stewing on it for 40 years, all he wanted to do was punch Dad in the face.

Instead, he walked into his bedroom and laid in bed. That night he was supposed to angrily walk up to Ford’s project. That anger would come out in a punch, the machine would break accidentally, and the next day Stan would be kicked out. But not this time.

The next day passed in a blur. Stan wondered how the kids were doing, if they even existed anymore. Trusting the preteens was not his worst mistake, obviously, but he wasn’t sure how he felt about this. He didn’t know how long he would keep his memories. He didn't know if this was just an elaborate dream. He didn't know if -

“Those _assholes_!” Ford’s angry voice broke Stan out of his slowly approaching panic attack. He turned around to face his brother as the door slammed behind him. “They didn't even- how could they- I just don’t-” Ford was pulling at his hair, face red and angry tears streaming down his cheeks.

Actual 17 year old Stan would’ve jumped up and ran out the door to try and find whoever’s had hurt his brother. 40 years of his own trauma later, Stan instead wrapped his arms around his twin.

“What’s wrong, Sixer?” Stan kept his voice gentle, amazed that Dad hadn’t made his way out to them yet, and hoping he would just stay away.

“They didn't, they- they didn't like my project,” Ford sobbed into his shoulder. Ford had always been the one to cry when they were younger, but as they got older and their dad got more strict about what ‘Men Don’t Do’ neither of them would shed tears unless something big had happened.

“I’m going to kill them,” Stan said, plainly. This was fine. Nah its just _great_! So if Stan hadn’t accidentally broken the project. Ford would still not be accepted by the stupid school. Stan got kicked out for nothing. Its fine. Everything drained out of him for a moment and he pulled Ford in tighter.

Their father didn’t come out this time, most likely because he didn't have a reason to kick his least favorite son. Instead, Stan took Ford down to his car and just started driving.

“What did they say?”

“Apparently they saw someone with similar design for perpetual motion. They didn’t think I was _unique enough_.”

“You want to hear somethin’ awful? I couldn’t imagine them _not_ accepting you. I had thought about breakin’ into the school and breaking your machine, so you wouldn’t leave me stuck here alone.” Sure, it was a lie, but the truth would take too much explaining.

Ford looked up at him, no sign of anger towards what his brother had said. “Stan, I know you. You’d show up at my dorm a week later just to make sure I was getting enough sleep,” he let out a small chuckle. “Or mom would get so worried about me she’d make you. You wouldn’t be stuck here.”

They drove for an hour before circling back home.

“So now what?”


	2. Fight! Fight! Fight!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Why are you doing this? Before...before the science fair you wanted us to sail away. What changed?”  
> “I guess I grew up.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My Stan to canon Stan: "I'm you but I can swear for real, anytime I want"
> 
> I started thinking about this AU again, and this happened, whoops.

In the morning Pa didn’t even acknowledge them. Stan had no idea what was going to happen now. He knew Ford would be fine and go off to college, but what about him? Right now he should be sleeping in his car in a parking lot somewhere. But here he was, still at home. 

Going to class felt weird. He had never actually finished high school, yesterday should’ve been the last time he set foot here. And Ford was quiet through the whole day, and Stan couldn’t blame him. He wished he had broken the project, he’d rather his brother be angry at him than whatever was happening now. So maybe it was time to mix things up more.

When he was actually in highschool and actually a teenager, Stan barely skated by, usually cheating off his brother. The thing was, even back then he could’ve been doing well by himself if he felt like it. But it was so much easier to just let Ford do the work, and he could just coast by cheating. And now adding forty years, plus basically teaching himself advanced physics, he was currently the smartest student in the highschool. So in a shock to everyone he’d ever met, he raised his hand to answer the question his teacher had just asked.

“S-Stanley? You want to answer the problem?” his teacher asked, bewildered. Stan  _ never  _ raised his hand. Even on the off chance a teacher called at him, he would shrug and roll his eyes, staying silent.

“X equals two?” he replied. This math was so easy to him now, and if it hadn’t been for everything else going on, he might be enjoying himself seeing everyone turn to him confused.

“Um, that’s correct.” The teacher turned to the chalkboard to write it down. Ford looked at his brother, mouth open in shock. Stan grinned back at him. 

“Stan, what’s going on?” Ford asked him as they walked back home. For the rest of the day, Stan had raised his hand in every class at least once, and every answer was right.

“What’cha mean?”

“You were  _ participating _ in school! You’ve never done that!”

“Oh, I figured since you were having a tough time I’d take over for a bit.” Stan patted his brother on the back. “I know this whole project thing has been real hard, so just take your time, ok?”

“Who are you?”

Stan laughed, and softly punched him in the arm. 

They had two months left of school at that point, and Stan did everything he could to help his brother. He made sure Ford applied to as many other colleges as they could think of. Their parents would come in to see  _ Stan  _ helping  _ Ford _ with homework problems. Their father stayed out of the way, but occasionally Stan could feel anger wafting off the man.

“Holy shit,” Stan said after their final day of school. He was looking over his report card. In those last two months, he had managed to raise his grades from a barely passing D in every class, to Cs and two Bs. While he had been actually doing school work to make sure Ford kept up, he hadn’t realized that he was doing well too. 

“Stan, thank you,” Ford mumbled, looking down at his own report card. His grades had fallen slightly, but he still managed to be top of their class. “I don’t know what I would’ve done without you.”

_ Well, without me you’d still eventually end up doing the research you always wanted to,  _ he thought. “I’m sure you would’ve been fine,” he said instead. 

“Why are you doing this? Before...before the science fair you wanted us to sail away. What changed?”

“I guess I grew up,” Stan replied. He pulled Ford into a one-armed hug, “you gotta put that nerdy brain t’good use, poindexter.” Stan didn’t know what he was going to do now. He was too focused on making sure Ford got the future he deserved, he hadn’t thought about his own. Ford had gotten into a better school than Backupsmore, since he had been forced to put effort into his college search this time. There was no way Stan was sticking around at home, not with Pa basically breathing down his neck. But at least Ford would be happy.

A week after they had graduated highschool, things took a turn. It was a Saturday, and even though they hadn’t been getting up for school, sleeping in on a Saturday alway felt different. Ford was already up when Stan stumbled half-asleep out of the room. Their eighteenth birthday was in ten days, the first birthday Stan would see his brother for in forty years. Time-travel was weird. He heard his name from the kitchen, and took a step towards it.

“He’s out of here on the sixteenth,” Pa said. Oh, that should’ve been expected. 

“Wow, so generous Pops,” Stan yawned as he walked around the corner. Even though Stan didn’t have a plan, at least this time he knew what  _ not  _ to do. He started getting a bowl for cereal, when he felt himself pulled roughly by the shoulder. Turning around, his father’s ever present frown seemed to be...frownier, as he tugged his youngest son backwards. Ma was sitting at the table, looking distraught. Ford was sitting next to her, a comforting hand on her back, and a shocked look on his face.

“What was that?” his father growled. Stan looked up, throwing a scowl at his father.

“I’m amazed you let me stay this long, is all,” he scoffed back, smacking the hand off his shoulder. “Letting your kid live with you until he’s eighteen? Pretty fuckin’ generous.” It took about two seconds to realize what he had said. The thing was, with all the shit Stan had been through in his life, he had forgotten what a frightening person his dad was. 

“Outside, now,” Pa hissed through his teeth. Suddenly Stan really wished he was back in the other timeline. He shot Ford a smile that said “it’s all good bro” and he was shoved out the back steps.

It was not “all good bro”. It hadn’t been until Stan was in his forties that he had realized his father had abused him as a child. He had always thought it was a normal thing, which when he looked back was probably worse than the actual abuse. He knew he was the only one of his brothers that Pa had ever hit, and he wasn’t sure if either ever knew it happened. It had stopped being physical around the time they had turned fifteen, probably because Stan was big enough that he could fight back if he wanted to. Which meant that whatever was coming for him was going to be worse than anything else. At least he had a lot more experience at this point, and he was still in good shape at this point in life.

“What makes you think you can talk like that to me?” Pa questioned, and accented the “me” with a sharp punch to Stan’s jaw. “All you ever do is lie and cheat and ride on your brother's coattails.” And another punch.

There it was. Had he rehearsed that line? Stan took a step back as his father swung again. “If y’haven’t noticed, I’m the reason Ford still got into a good college,” another step back, “did you not notice how depressed he was? Some father you are,” Stan laughed with that last comment. Another punch hit. But he caught the next punch, and looked his father in the eyes (or would, if it wasn't for the sunglasses he always wore). “I know y’hate me Pa. I’ve  _ always  _ known, you’re not a liar like Ma. So I’ll be out of your way in twenty minutes.” 

He threw the arm he had caught away, leaving his father with his mouth hanging open in shock. Quickly, Stan ran back up the stairs. Upon entering the kitchen, he was embraced by his crying mother. She fussed at his face for a moment before he gently pushed her away. He ran to his room, where Ford was throwing things into a bag. 

“What’s up bro?” he asked, confused. That was what Stan was supposed to be doing. 

“I’m so, so sorry Stanley. I d- I didn’t know.” Ford looked up at him, eyes damp. “I went down after you two and heard what you said.” Stan knelt down next to his brother.

“So uh, what are you doing then?”

“Wherever we go, we go together,” he said. And Stan felt his heart break. That’s what he had wanted, going through this time travel stuff. He threw his arms around his brother, and hugged him with all his might.

Quickly, the two of them packed everything they could up. With a final look around their childhood room, the brothers turned to leave. They both kissed their mother goodbye, and walked to the stairs, but were of course stopped by their father.

“So you’re going with him?” he scoffed. Ford didn’t answer, just pushed past and went out the door.

“Fuck you Dad,” Stan glared at him, and with a final wave to Ma, followed his brother out.

“So uh, where was your college again?” Stan asked after they had packed up his car.

“Oregon,” Ford replied.

“I love Oregon,” Stan smiled, as they pulled away.

Who needed a plan when you had your brother with you?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this might turn into a longer fic, but no guarantees. I don't really have a direction it's going to go, but we'll see what happens.
> 
> That said, if you want me to keep going let me know, and we'll see. 
> 
> Hope you enjoyed! :)


	3. The author of this fic has no idea what they're doing including titling this chapter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “How did you know I wanted pancakes?”  
> “We’re twins, Ford. I know everything.”

Stan was still reeling from what had happened. Over the course of a few months he had completely changed his life. Ford was sitting in the passenger seat, making occasional comments about the book he was reading. It was  _ wrong _ .

"Ford, you know you didn't have t'do this," Stan says as they cross the border into Pennsylvania. They were about two hours from home, close enough that Stan would turn bak for him.

"Stop saying that, Stanley." Ford turns to his brother. "I- over the past few months, I realized that it was selfish of me. To just leave you like that, when we always talked about our plans to leave together. And now seeing the way Pa was treating you, I'm so sorry I didn't see it earlier."

"It's fine bro," Stan sighs, "I just don't want you to feel suffocated by me."

"I'll admit I wanted my space from you. And I should've talked to you about it. But now we're talking, right? He smiled, "I don't know what's happened to you, Stanley, but whatever has caused this change in you, I appreciate it."

What changed in Stan was forty years and swift punch from his brother. Maybe one day Stan would tell his twin what had happened. He doubted that Ford would really believe him, but who knows. 

They pulled off the highway to get gas and something to eat. It was reaching late afternoon and Stan sorta had forgotten they had left before he had gotten to eat. Another change from last time he had been kicked out, between the two of them they actually had money. Graduating and early birthday cards had left them with a nice chunk of change. Which if he thought about too much definitely happened in his original timeline, Pa probably didn't tell much of their extended family about kicking Stan out. 

"We should call Sherman," Ford says as they finish their meal. Their older brother had moved out to California a few weeks ago with his family. "Maybe we could stay with him for a few days while we figure out what we're doing."

Stan looked at his brother. Shermie had reached out several times once Stan had been kicked out, trying to get him to visit and stay with him. So it probably was a good idea. But that didn't mean he wanted to do it. "I dunno Ford, he's got his own life to deal with."

"That's true, but we shouldn't need more than a week. We just need time to figure out what we're going to do, and I know Sherman would want us to come as soon as he finds out anyway."

"Alright, but you're the one that's calling him." 

The conversation with their brother went about as well as Stan expected. Ford told him about what Stan had said to Pa, and he could hear Sherman's voice shouting at him through the phone. But he also told them they should've called as soon as they hit the road, and that they were welcome to stay with him as long as they needed.

"So it'll be about five days, unless you want to drive," Stan said, handing the map back to Ford. 

"Would you actually let me drive?"

"No."

They drove in silence, until the sun was setting. Stan pulled off the interstate and into the first motel they saw. He wasn’t about to make his brother spend a night in his car...he wasn’t about to make  _ himself _ spend a night in his car.

“Where are we now?” Ford yawned, rubbing his eyes.

“About halfway through Ohio. Tomorrow I’m hoping to make it at least through Illinois, maybe Iowa.” 

Stan didn’t sleep well that night. The one skill of Ford’s he’d always been jealous of was the ability to fall asleep. Sure, Ford didn’t  _ like _ to sleep, but he could fall asleep nearly instantly when he wanted to, no matter what was going on. He was a light sleeper, but even if he was woken during the night Ford would be right back out. Stan was the opposite. It might take him all night to fall asleep, but once he was out it was difficult to wake him. 

The clock showed it was three in the morning, and he decided to go for a walk. He looked over at Ford, spread out over the other bed, and left a note on the off chance his twin woke up and got worried.

The air was cool as he walked outside. Everything leading up to this moment felt wrong. He had spent ten years homeless, in and out of prison, not knowing if he was going to survive to the next day. Had spent thirty years building an interdimensional portal to get his brother back. Had been back with his brother for less than a week, and now here he was, seventeen again. He shouldn’t be complaining. While he had been kicked out again, at least he had his brother this time. Whether or not that would last was something he could worry about after they got to Piedmont. Seeing their older brother would be nice at least. Shermie had only been in town for a day, to pick up his son Alex who had been staying with them while he and his wife got the house ready. 

Stan missed the kids though. Mabel and Dipper wouldn’t exist for thirty years give or take. They may be trouble, but the younger Pines twins meant a lot to him. He also missed Soos and Wendy. Maybe he’d track down Soos’ deadbeat dad and give him hell for what he did to the kid. Knowing Ford, they would most likely end up in Gravity Falls anyway, so he was sure eventually he’d see his favorite (only) employees again.

When he got back to the room it was just after four. Ford stirred at the sound of him walking in, and mumbled something about pancakes before he was out again. Stan smiled at his twin, then laid down, hoping to catch a few hours of sleep.

“How did you know I wanted pancakes?” Ford asked as they sat down at a diner down the road.

“We’re twins, Ford. I know everything,” Stan poked his brother in the head, “c’mon, read my mind.”

“You’re going to flirt with the waitress,” he laughed, as the waitress walked up to their table.

“Hey there boys. I’m Abigail! What can I get you to drink?” she smiled. Ford would’ve been right, too. She was cute. But she also looked to be about their age, and Stan didn’t care that he was technically seventeen, that was too weird for him.

“We’ll both have a coffee,” he smiled. He had to stifle the “sweetheart” and wink that he normally would do. He smiled at Ford as she walked away, “you gotta work better on your mind reading, Sixer.”

The next few days flew by. As they checked into a motel late that evening Stan felt uneasy. Things were going too well. Things didn’t “go well” for Stanley Pines. Ford turned the TV on, and an old movie they used to love was playing. They sat and made jokes about how dumb the characters were for not seeing the monster right behind them. It was nice.

The clock said it was after one when the boys went to bed, but Stan again couldn’t sleep. How could he? Something was going to happen, he could feel it. He looked over at Ford, who had gone unconscious as soon as his head hit the pillow. Maybe it didn’t matter, at least for now he still had his brother.

“STANLEY PINES!” They had pulled into Shermie’s driveway, and the oldest Pines brother had run out as soon as Stan parked the car. “You are  _ insane _ .” He pulled the twins into a hug. “And you!” he pulled away, turning to Ford, “I can’t believe you just walked out on Dad!” He pulled them back into a hug.

“Stan’s rubbing off on me,” Ford mumbled through the hug.

“Shut up poindexter.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm using the headcanon that the baby in "Tale of Two Stans" was actually Shermie's son, because I like big brother Shermie. I'm also using Alex as his name because I'm unoriginal.  
> Where will this go? We'll see.
> 
> Hope you enjoyed!


	4. We'll work out the details later

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Something went really really wrong."  
> “Where’s Stanley?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nobody knows what the author of this fic is going to do next! Least of all the author!

"Do either of you have a plan? Or are you just making it up as you go?" Shermie asked after getting them settled. The twins glanced at each other, refusing to look at their older brother. "I'll take that as a no."

Sherman Pines was what happened when you took all the bad parts out of Dad and replaced them with all the good parts of Mom. He had a menacing scowl on his face, but rather than the way Dad looked angry, it was a scowl full of love and worry for his brothers. Half a foot taller than the twins, he towered over them, but now they felt protected. If he had been at home that night, Stan was sure things would have gone different.

But now that they were with Shermie, there were different problems. Stan wasn't really someone to plan. Things just happened around him and he rolled with it. And it had worked pretty well for him so far. Ford was usually the one that thought ahead about things, which is why he had thought to call Shermie. And they came out here because Ford's college is in Oregon, about eight hours from Shermie's house, so they had at least sort of thought that through. And Ford started college in the fall, so they would have to figure something out by then. Besides, having a deadline always helped Ford. 

"Ford, how are you going to pay your tuition?" Shermie asked, knocking Stan from his thoughts. Oh shit, they had forgotten about that.

"Well I have a scholarship that covers most of the expenses," Ford replied.

" _ Most?  _ How are you going to cover the rest? Not to mention everything else, like I don't know, food? Are your books covered?” he sighed, “I understand why you two left home, but you really need to think these things through."

Stan went to say that the Mystery Shack had been enough for the mortgage, it should cover the tuition no problem, when he remembered - the Shack doesn't exist now.

Three months. Stan had been seventeen again for three months, and it just hit him. It had all felt like a dream, being young again with his brother. The problem with being back at seventeen, is he  _ felt  _ seventeen. He was basically a child again, even if he still had his sixty year old memories. And he had been focusing on Ford this whole time, making sure he was ok. Even the other night when he had been thinking about his niece and nephew, it hadn't sunk in. This was his reality now.

He put his head in his hands. If he was by himself he could've figured something out. He didn't mind living out of his car, going days without food. Because he was young and could do that again if he had to. But Ford was here. He would never let his brother experience that if he could help it.

"Stan and I will figure it out. We can do anything as long as we're together." Ford punched his twin in the arm, "right, Stan?"

Stan looked up at his brother, "yeah, you don’t have to worry about us, Sherm.”

“Ok, I won’t worry about you two. Because you two won’t be leaving here without a plan I approve of.” 

The twins glanced at each other, that was going to be hard.

The day passed slowly for Stan. For someone that never had an honest job in his life (the Mystery Shack was a way of life, not a job), it was hard to plan what they would do. Shermie had offered Stan to stay with him, but both twins rejected that idea. They were going together no matter what.

"Stanley, I'm the worst," Ford muttered. So far their plans had come up to nothing, and trying to sleep wasn't going anywhere for either of them. 

"If you're the worst, what does that make me?" Stan offered a tired chuckle. He ran his hands through his hair and let out a frustrated sigh. "Do you want to build a fort?"

The room Shermie had given them had been being used as storage. There was an entire box of blankets that they had been given to get comfy (even though it was summer). Ford rolled on his side to face his brother. His eyes narrowed for a moment, before breaking out into the biggest smile Stan had seen on him in a long time. Stan returned the smile, flickering slightly as the smile reminded him of his niece and nephew. 

Ford was up and throwing blankets out of the box before Stan realized he had moved. Together they built the blanket fort across the entire room in no time at all. 

"How long's it been since we built a fort?" Stan asked after they settled in. He really had no idea.

"The last one was when we were thirteen and Dad yelled at us because we stayed out too late. It was the first time he yelled at both of us."

"How mad d'ya think he'd be if we called just to tell him to fuck off again?"

Ford laughed, tossing a pillow on to him. "So much for that growing up."

"Hey, I did grow up. You just wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"That doesn't make any sense," he yawned, "you'll have to explain it to me sometime." And he was out.

"I'll think about it," Stan sighed, doing his best to follow his brother.

Stans dreams had always been weird. Between worrying about his own life and then his brothers, they often had him running from a monster. Then the kids seemed to always be getting in trouble so there were twice the monsters. But the past few months here? His dreams were relaxed. That night was no exception. 

He was walking through a forest, but not the one at home in Gravity Falls. It was calm and peaceful. In the distance there was a soft yellow glow, but as he walked to it it seemed to get further away. Occasionally out of the corner of his eye something would move, but he never felt in danger. The only time something felt out of place was if he looked away from the glow. Instead of the inviting yellow, it would turn an angry red. But as soon as he returned his focus to it, the gentle glow would return. Even though it was a dream, it felt like hours before he started to get close to the light. As he approached, he could almost make out a voice, but before he got any closer he was forced awake.

Instinctively he swatted at whatever had hit him to wake him up. His arm met something soft - a pillow. He blinked his eyes open just in time to see his brother thwack him across the middle with it.

“Stanley, it’s almost noon!” Ford laughed. Stan couldn’t remember the last time he had seen his brother this happy. Stan grabbed the pillow from behind his head and threw it at his brother. They swung pillows back and forth at each other, slowly knocking down the fort they had built.

“What are you two doing?” Shermie laughed, walking into the room. Stan had gotten Ford in a headlock at this point, and Ford was desperately trying to trip his brother with the blankets wrapped around them. Seeing their older brother walk in, Stan made the mistake of letting Ford go, falling backwards as Ford managed to get a good grip on the blanket he was standing on.

“I was trying to wake Stan up since it’s so late,” Ford stated, as if it was obvious.

“Ford doesn’t believe in sleep,” Stan grumbled from his place on the floor. It was too much effort to get up, but he tossed a pillow up at the back of Ford’s head.

“Well lucky for both of you, we decided to sleep in too. C’mon, Jen and I are making uh, brunch I guess.” Shermie helped his brothers up and they walked out to the kitchen.

* * *

“Kids, have you seen my brother?” Ford asked, walking into the TV room. The younger set of Pines twins were sitting on the floor staring at Stan’s chair. Hearing their uncle come in, both turned to him with confused looks on their faces. 

“Dipper, I think something went wrong,” Mabel whispered. He nodded in response. 

Ten minutes ago the two of them had brought Stan a Time Wish. After explaining what it was, Stan had taken them up on their offer to use it to correct his past mistake. Which should mean they wouldn’t remember doing it, since they would have never had given it to him in the first place. But staring up at Ford, something was wrong.

“Hey Great Uncle Ford, can you tell us what’s happened in the last week?” Dipper questioned.

“Why?”

“Something went  _ really really  _ wrong Grunkle Ford,” Mabel mumbled. 

Ford reached down for his gun, growling out, “where’s Stanley?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So that last bit? I originally was going to have as the start of the last chapter. Who knows how long this fic will get (not me). There is mostly likely going to be some ignoring of canon and a lot of hand-wavy science in the future, because this is my fic so like, who cares?
> 
> PS: thank you for those that commented about Biker Stan!


	5. Everything is finally going my way. (Or so he thought)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Are you sure the two of you will stick to this?”  
> “What, don’t you trust us?”  
> “Of course, we’ll be relying on each other to stick to it. And I think- we’ve talked about it, and I know we’ll be fine,”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woohooooo next chapter!!!!!

“Stanley did  _ what? _ ” Ford pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. The younger Pines twins had just explained to him that Stan had wished to go back in time to fix his mistake.

“Well, we gave him the Time Wish,” Dipper nervously mumbled out. “But that should mean our whole timeline would change, and Stan should still be here.”

“Maybe we got a broken wish?” Mabel offers. “B-but we can get him back, right?”

Ford looked down at the twins and sighed. Of  _ course _ Stanley would leave him like this, getting out of responsibility for what he did. “Can you tell me  _ exactly  _ what happened?”

Dipper and Mabel were in the forest, trying to track down a plaidypus (don’t ask why). After searching for a few hours and coming up empty, they had started to head back to the Shack. Where they ran into the time travel guy again (who’s name they just couldn’t remember, but definitely started with a B...Probably). After talking to him for a while, he offered to help them get another Time Wish that they could use to help Stan. Of course they accepted his help, anything to make Stan feel better. They weren’t exactly sure how he had gotten them into a Globnar challenge, but they won with very little trouble.

“Then we explained to him that the Time Wish could do anything. I don’t think he really believed us, but he made his wish and now he’s gone,” Dipper finished explaining. Ford looked up from the journal he was taking notes in.

“And you’ve been through this before?”

“Yeah! We gave the last wish to Soos, which is how he got his infinite pizza!” Mabel smiled, doing her best to stay positive even with their missing grunkle. 

“Was there anything unusual this time?”

“Well Time Baby wasn’t there, but the robot guys just said he was taking a nap,” Dipper replied. That’s not weird, right? “Everything else was just like last time, I think all the events were even in the same order.” Yeah, nothing was out of place.

  
  


Ford was at a loss of what to do. He had been back in his home dimension for not even a  _ week _ , and his twin was already causing more problems for him. The issue now was there wasn’t a direction to go in to find Stan. He had sent the kids to bed, assuring them that he’d figure something out just to keep them from making things worse.

For all his traveling through the multiverse, Ford had very little experience with time travel. He knew of the Time Paradox Avoidance Enforcement Squadron through other’s encounters with them. How his niece and nephew had encountered them was incredible. But having known the younger twins for only a few days it wasn't surprising that they had managed to befriend one of the agents. This was the third time they had traveled through time, and under different circumstances he would’ve questioned them on the whole process. But of course, instead he was left to clean up Stan’s mess.

Sitting down in his study, he collected all of his notes on time travel...there weren’t many. From what he knew, mostly likely Stan had ended up in another timeline, instead of just resetting their own. Which meant they could potentially find him. He picked up one of his journals, briefly running his hand over the six fingered symbol on the cover. Of course, another timeline just meant another universe - meaning to find Stan the portal would need to be opened. 

“Stanley, when we find you, I am going to kill you,” Ford muttered, standing up and gathering his notes. First his brother endangered the entire dimension by opening the portal, and now he decided it wasn’t his problem, and left them. “We’re going to have to deal with the  _ unicorns _ , Stanley. I hope you’re happy.” He noted down the spell to block a certain demon from entering the shack. “You’d think in thirty years you would’ve-” he felt his throat tighten as a sob welled up in his chest, “damnit, Stanley.” 

He was beyond angry with his brother. Jeopardizing the whole universe just to get him back, ruining his chances at every turn. And now here Ford was, about to cry because his brother was gone. “I don’t have time for this,” he sighed, wiping his eyes with the back of his hand. In the back of his mind he knew this was almost how Stan would’ve felt, losing him all those years ago. “It’s not my fault, he did this to himself,” Ford reassured himself. “It’s  _ always  _ Stan’s fault.” He sat back down in his chair, and cried.

  
  


Sending the younger Pines twins to bed didn’t mean they would actually go to sleep. Ford hadn’t known Mabel and Dipper long enough to know that nothing would stop them until they got Stan back.

“Well, if Stan’s not here, that means he’s in another universe, right? Like what happened to Ford?” Mabel asked, leaning over Dipper’s shoulder. He was furiously writing down everything he could remember from Great Uncle Ford’s journals, since he had taken them away when he sent them to the attic. 

“That  _ has  _ to be what happened,” he clicked his pen a few times in thought, “because he wouldn’t just disappear.” 

“So we just gotta figure out where he went! That won’t be hard, right? Ford can figure it out with our help, we can use that weird portal thing!”

“I don’t know, Mabel. I don’t know if he’d want to start it up again.” Not to mention that at this point it was mostly disassembled, anyway. 

“But he has to Dipper! We need Stan back here,” Mabel sniffled, rubbing her eyes with her sweater sleeve.

“It’s not that simple Mabel.”

“Well...we’ll make it simple!” she shouted, standing up to look down at him. “It’s just like hide-and-seek, and Grunkle Stan is  **not** good at that game.” She let out a soft laugh, holding Dipper’s face so she could make intense eye contact, “he’s gonna get tired of the game really soon, but we’ll find him first!”

Dipper pulled away from his sister’s grasp, but smiled. If they just pretended it was one big puzzle, they would find him in no time.

“Mystery Twins?” he asked, hand up for a high-five.

“Mystery Twins!”

* * *

“Are you sure the two of you will stick to this?” Shermie asked over breakfast. 

“What, don’t you trust us?” Stan grinned. It had taken him and Ford almost a week to come up with a plan to satisfy Shermie. They had talked and talked and talked and talked and then suddenly it was their birthday, and they had it figured out. 

“Of course, we’ll be relying on each other to stick to it. And I think- we’ve talked about it, and I  _ know _ we’ll be fine,” Ford said as he sat down at the table. It was a simple plan, and most of the talking had been Ford convincing Stan to go along with it. 

“Well I’m glad the two of you worked it out by yourselves, and we’re happy to help.” 

The easiest way to satisfy Shermie was to ask him to help them get set, which Stan had been against from the start. He didn’t want them to be more of a burden than they already were. But Ford had sat up with him all night, trying to convince him that they could ask their older brother for help without being burdens (Stan would’ve made him stay up anyway - he had to be awake when it hit midnight on their birthday to make sure it was really happening). 

The hardest part of the plan, however, was that Stan actually needed to get a job. A real job. One where someone was  _ his  _ boss. He was going to have to pay  _ taxes _ ! That was not how Stanley Pines rolled. But when he looked over at his twin smiling as he ate their birthday pancakes (Shermie and Jen had done their best to make them into shapes resembling a 1 and an 8) he knew he would do it for him.

Ford had offered that he would also pick up a part time job between his classes. But Stan had shot him down as soon as he mentioned it. He knew his twin well enough that within a month he would be burned out from trying to balance studying and working. And that was not worth the extra cash they would get. Besides, it was 1972, money was worth so much more than it would be forty years from now. Plus, it would be almost  _ too easy  _ to rob a bank without all the fancy security cameras. Not that he would. Not yet, anyway. 

“We can take a trip up to Oregon on Saturday, see what we can find for the two of you,” Shermie ruffled the twin’s hair before picking up their plates.

“You don’t have t’come with us Sherm, we can do what part ourselves,” Stan grumbled back.

“Hey, just because you two are adults now doesn’t mean you can just go off on your own. If you’re asking for my help, I’m going to help.”

“Stan, we don’t know what we’re doing. It will be better for us if Sherman comes with us, at least for now,” Ford smiled at him.

Stan opened his mouth to argue that he actually did know what he was doing, but didn’t need them questioning him. Instead, he replied with, “fine, Sixer.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just want to make sure every one knows, I love Ford. I just might be kinda mean to him in the future. 
> 
> Anywayyyy... I hope you enjoyed! I appreciate that you're taking the time to read this :)


	6. Tell him I'll never forget how it was when we were young

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Great Uncle Ford’s a dumdum, and he needs you. You two got into a big fight and you lose him for thirty years. But you spent all your time getting him back. Cause you’re his brother and you gotta protect him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It is... 2:44am. Did you know microwaves were first sold in 1946?

Ford looked at his niece and nephew, sitting across from him at the kitchen table. Mabel had handed him a colorful packet of drawings with the title “Operation: Find Jeremy” (she said Jeremy just sounded better than Stan for the plan, and Ford wasn’t sure he wanted to question the reasons behind it). Their eyes were focused on him as he stirred his coffee. Mable’s plan sounded so simple and he wished it could be like that. It consisted of five drawings, with notes that looked to be Dipper’s part of the project.

Step 1: Convince Great Uncle Ford to open the portal (this is going to be the second hardest step). There was a drawing of the three of them outside of the triangular device.  _ If Ford refuses to help us here we’re getting every being in the forest around town to help us. _

Step 2: Figure out where Grunkle Stan is. This drawing was the twins holding Ford’s hands, and he appeared to be leading them somewhere.  _ We don’t know how the multiverse works, but Ford’s been traveling it for thirty years. If anyone would be able to find Stan, it’s him. _

Step 3: Convince Grunkle Stan to come home with us. The drawing did not include Ford this time, instead it was young twins and Stan.  _ Even if he hates it wherever he is, he’s stubborn and will probably pretend he likes it there. The next step will be the most important part of this whole operation. _

Step 4: Get Great Uncle Ford and Grunkle Stan to apologize to each other (this one is the hardest part). It was obvious that Mabel had spent the most time on this one. There were several small drawings of Stan and Ford in various stages of apologizing.  _ This is going to be more difficult than fighting Rumble McSkirmish, the zombies, and the Manotaurs combined.  _

Step 5: Get home! All four Pines were in this picture, standing in front of a building that was vaguely shaped like the Shack.

“ _ I  _ think it’s a perfect plan,” Mable grinned, shoving something she called a ‘Mablecake’ into her mouth. “What d’you think, Great Uncle Ford?”

Ford took a sip of his coffee, and glanced over the pages again. They wanted him to apologize to Stan, and that was not sitting well. Stan had done this to himself, and it serves him right being stuck in whatever dimension he had been sent to. But somehow both of the twins still trusted him to find his brother, even knowing what had happened between them. “It could use a few edits, but as a first draft it has the basis of a solid plan.” Both twins lit up at his compliment of their plan.

“I thought it could use more detail, but Mable loves to be spontaneous,” Dipper said nervously. “Ford, you are going to help find Grunkle Stan, right?”

Ford sighed, running his hand through his hair. “Yes. So I can yell at him about the trouble he’s caused me.” It was supposed to come off as a joke, but the way the children shrunk back showed it hadn’t. Stan was always better at jokes, anyway. He coughed awkwardly. “Since we have come to the same conclusion that Stan must have been transferred to a different dimension, there are a few things we’ll need to do first. I’ve already partially assembled the portal. We need to take some precautions and secure the shack from any...weirdness.”

Unicorns were just as frustrating as he remembered. Maybe worse (what kind of name was Celestabellebethabelle anyway? In all his travels in the multiverse that was the strangest name he had ever heard). But Ford had underestimated the bond Mabel and Dipper had. The second the unicorn had deemed Mabel “not pure of heart” Dipper had launched into a several minute rant about how Mabel was the kindest person he or anyone knew. It had eventually devolved into discussing what “pure of heart” meant, at which point the unicorn had let them cut her hair just to stop him from continuing. Who knew that the easiest way to get through to a unicorn was to annoy it right back?

“That was great bro-bro! I can’t believe you yelled at a unicorn for me!” Mabel exclaimed, hugging her brother with enough force to cause him to stumble. Ford out and steadied them before they hit the ground.

“Of course Mabel, she was a jerk anyway,” Dipper replied, gently pushing her away. 

The two of them walked ahead of Ford, laughing about what other magical creatures they could annoy into giving them things. Stan had obviously rubbed off on them, already scheming with this new found power. They were young and impressionable, Stan should’ve known better than to be so blatant with his cons. But of course, Stan never thought about anyone but-

“Are you okay, Great Uncle Ford?” Mabel asked. She was looking up at him with wide eyes. “You’ve been mumbling like, really loudly.”

“Yes, I’m fine,” he replied. He hadn’t realized he’d been thinking out loud. “We’ll be back at the shack shortly. I will get the shield setup, you two can head inside.”

“I think Ford really is doing this just to yell at Stan,” Dipper said. Since Ford had shooed them away from helping with the unicorn shield, the two of them had headed into the kitchen. 

“That’s ok! He’s just gonna yell at him because he realized how much Stan means to him,” Mabel smiled with her usual enthusiasm. “Just wait, once we find Stan they're gonna be best friends again!”

“But don’t you wonder what kind of place Stan’s in? What if the wish worked and he already has a Ford that he’s friends with?”

“But he doesn’t have us, Dipper! We’re his favorite niece and nephew!”

“We’re his only niece and nephew, dork.”

“Exactly! So even if he thinks he’s happy where he is, he’ll come back because it’s  _ us. _ ”

Even if her logic wasn’t completely sound, Mabel’s confidence convinced him that it was going to be fine. It was also a good time to stop, since Ford had just walked in. He poured himself a cup of lukewarm coffee and put his mug in the microwave.

“What were you two discussing?” he asked, forgetting to start the microwave as he turned to face them.

“I was explaining to Dipper that he’s a giant dork and that I’m right 1000 percent of the time, always,” she grinned. Ford turned back around to the microwave and hastily hit a few buttons. “But you’re right like, 500 percent of the time, Uncle Ford.”

Ford opened the microwave, but paused before he had picked up the mug. “What makes you say that?” Of course, 1000 and 500 percent of the time weren’t possible. But the sentiment behind her words were what caught him off guard.

“Well you’re the second smartest person we’ve ever met, so I think you have to be right almost all the time.” 

He turned around, forgetting about his coffee again. “Who’s the first?” he inquired, sitting down at the table. 

Before she could reply, Dipper tugged on her shoulder, turning her to face him. They shared a look and a few eyebrow raises before he nodded in acceptance. “You and Grunkle Stan are tied for smartest ever.” Her tone came off as if he should’ve already known the answer. 

“We’re not going to explain, and you’re not going to change our minds on it.” Dipper said. Ford had opened his mouth to ask for clarification, but Dipper had cut him off. He just nodded instead. It seemed that both of the children held him and his brother in the same regard, even with everything that had happened.

“I appreciate that you two see it that way.” He didn’t know what else to say. Dipper had gotten up and placed the mug of slightly-warmer-than-lukewarm coffee in front of him.

Standing in front of the humming portal felt wrong in a thousand ways. But here he was, again. It had taken only two days for him to get it back to working order (he owed it to Mabel and her Mabel juice - whatever she put in it had kept his energy up the whole time). He had spent a third day building the best tracking device he could with the tools available. It wasn’t foolproof, and it was likely it would take quite a few attempts to find the Stan they were looking for. But it was better than hopping through dimensions at random as he had spent the last few decades. Trying to convince the twins that it would be safer for them to stay home was also a no-go. How Mabel had managed to handcuff herself to him and Dipper without his notice was impressive. At least they wouldn’t be separated as they went through the portal.

“Remember, the multiverse can be incredibly dangerous. There are infinite dimensions, and not all of them behave like ours. There are monsters and demons and beings beyond our understanding. So just-” he rattled the handcuffs, “-stick close to me at all times.”

“Mabel, you have the keys for these, right?” Dipper asked, as they plunged through the portal.

“This. Is. So cool!” Mabel exclaimed as they floated through the multiverse.

“Yes, it is very cool. But please do not-” Ford began, as Mabel uncuffed herself, “-do that.”

“Mabel, we’re supposed to stick next to Ford!” Dipper reached out to him, as he was still tethered to his sister.

“But we can do this!” she said, spinning in circles in the lack of gravity. 

Ford sighed, the two of them reminded him so much of him and Stan when they were younger. “Come back here, Mabel.” He reached out and grasped her hand tightly. “I know you’re having fun, but please wait until we’re in a safer place before you let go again.”

Mabel squeezed his hand, “Ok, Grunkle Ford.”

Ford pulled out the tracking device. While it was precise, he didn’t have the ability to calibrate it so it wouldn’t be very accurate. Meaning, it could find  _ a  _ Stanley Pines. But there were likely thousands of dimensions where the Pines family existed, so finding the right one would take a few attempts as he adjusted the device accordingly. He flicked it on, and pulled his companions through a nearby wormhole.

“You both understand that if we run into Stanley, he might not be the one we’re looking for?” They both nodded. “Good. Well, here we go.” He held them up, and braced himself to land in the new dimension.

“It looks like this is a normal earth dimension.” Ford said, letting the kids go. They appeared to be on the outskirts of a city. The sun was just about gone behind the horizon, so he couldn’t see much of their surroundings.

“What’s not a normal earth?” Dipper asked as he finally wrestled his way out of the handcuff.

“You’ll know if we happen upon one.” He looked down at the tracker, “it looks like Stanley isn’t too far. I need both of you to stay quiet when we find him, let me talk to him first.”

He walked quickly, the twins trailing behind him. The tracker let out a soft “bleep” as they approached a building. It appeared to be a bar. And, judging by the amount of motorcycles parked outside, it was a biker bar. Would children be allowed in a bar? If Stanley is in there he might need to find somewhere for the kids to wait. That would probably be the best, and he would just be gone for a minute. He raised his hand up to brush his hair back as he glanced around for somewhere to have them wait.

“Sixer?” a voice asked, hesitantly. Ford froze at the use of the nickname. But he recognized the voice immediately. 

Turning around, there was a man smoking, leaning up against the bar. He had blended into the shadows until he started moving. He dropped the cigarette and twisted his boot over it as he approached them. As he passed the window of the bar, enough light landed on his face for Ford to notice a few things. One: this was Stan. Two: this was a much, much younger Stan. He couldn't be older than 25, most likely younger. Ford pushed the kids slightly behind him, unsure on how Stan was going to react. 

As he got closer, his face, which had held an excited expression at first, switched to confusion. “Oh, sorry man. You look just like my brother, even got his six fingers,” he mumbled, stepping back. But the way he looked at Ford said he wasn’t totally convinced that he wasn’t his brother. 

Ford stalled, unsure if or how to explain who he was.

“GRUNKLE STAN DO YOU HAVE A MOTORCYCLE?” Mable shouted, jumping out from behind Ford. Her outburst had caught Stan off guard and he had jumped back, raising his fists slightly. 

“Mabel! We’re supposed to let Ford talk to him!” Dipper leaped over to her, pulling her back slightly.

“The fuck is a ‘grunkle’?” Stan asked, lowering his arms now. Mabel cupped her hands over her ears at the use of a swear, mumbling out how he shouldn’t use those words. 

Ford stepped up, pulling the children back against him. “Hi, Stanley.”

“Ford, what the f-heck. What the heck is going on.”

“Can we talk somewhere?”

Stan looked back at the bar, then down at the kids. “Yeah, there’s a diner around the block. C’mon.”

“So why are you so old?” Stan asked, as they slid into a booth at the diner. Mabel sat next to him, poking at the patches on his jacket. “And who are these gremlins?”

“They’re our great niece and nephew, Mabel and Dipper. Without going into detail, I will say we’re from the future, in a way.”

“Oh, great and uncle, is that what y’meant by grunkle?” Stan looked down at Mabel. She nodded, smiling up at him.

“Stan, how old are you right now?”

“23,” he replied. He pulled a deck of cards out of his pocket, “you kids wanna see a magic trick?”

“Oh.” So he had been on his own for about five years at this point. And he looked to be doing well for himself, for the moment anyway. Parts of Stan’s story from the day he came back echoed through his mind, but this version of his brother hadn’t been through the roughest parts, it seemed. “Stan, I have a question about the science fair.” 

Stan froze, dropping the cards he’d been holding. “What about it?”

“If you could make a wish to go back to that moment, would you?”

Stan regarded him with a cold gaze. “Yeah, of course. Why?”

“The reason we’re here is, our Stan had the opportunity to make that wish.”

“Yeah! We fought Globnar for it!”

“Mabel you’re just going to confuse him more.”

Ford looked at the kids, both looking down to let him finish, “and he took it. However, it appears something went wrong and he is no longer in our dimension. We’ve set out to look for him. You’re the first Stan that we’ve encountered.”

Stan had restarted the trick, impressing both twins as he found their two separate cards. “So are there a bunch of us?”

“Yes, there are thousands of versions of us across the multiverse.”

“And you’re looking for one version of me? Because he made a wish to get away from you”

“You could put it that way, yes.”

“Y’sure you’re Ford? Pushing me away sounds like you. But t’go looking for me? That’s not something you would do.” 

“Look Stanley, we both have made mistakes-” he really didn’t want to have this fight again this soon, “-but I would never want something like this to happen.”

“Oh, so  _ me  _ making a wish to fix things, that’s not ok? But accidentally breaking your stupid machine, and getting kicked out, that’s fine, right?” He slammed his arms down on the table, nudging Mabel out of the way so he could get out of the booth. “You’re better off leaving him wherever he is. I’m sure everyone’ll be a lot happier that way.” He stormed out of the diner. 

Ford rested his elbows on the table, resting his face onto his hand. Dipper tried to comfort him, while Mabel looked at them and the door swinging shut, and decided to race out after Stan.

“Wait, Grunkle Stan!” Mabel cried, running up to him.

He stopped, turning around to look down at her. “Look, kid. I am  **not** your uncle.” He knelt down, resting a hand on her shoulder. “Y’seem like a sweet kid, and I hope you and your brother make it home safe. But Ford just-”

“Great Uncle Ford’s a dumdum, and he needs you,” she sobbed, leaning forward into his shoulder. “You two get into a big fight and you lose him for thirty years. B-but you spend all your time getting him back. Cause you’re his brother and you gotta protect him.” 

Stan awkwardly pulled her into a hug. “You’re lucky we’re not by the bar. I’d have to beat up the whole gang because they’d think I’m a big softie.”

Mabel let out a small laugh, hugging him tighter. 

“So how’s this multiverse thing work, anyway?” Stan and Mabel slid back into the booth after they had calmed down for a minute. Ford looked up, confused that he was back. The two of them acted as if nothing had happened.

“I can give you a brief explanation,” he said. A brief explanation was long enough that the kids had eaten through a stack of pancakes, and were now flinging sugar packets at each other.

“So when do we go?” Stan asked. He had retained exactly nothing from Ford’s explanation. But he had listened intently, anyway.

“What do you mean, we?”

“Look, Ford. You may have over thirty years on me, but there’s no way I can just let you go off by yourself now that we’re together. Plus, you’ve never been able to take care of yourself, let alone two kids.”

“Stanley, you can’t-”

“It’s not up for discussion, Ford.” He leaned back on the seat, shrugging. 

Ford sighed. It didn’t matter how old Stan was, he had always been stubborn. 

“Fine.”

Mabel’s shriek of joy and Dipper’s echo almost deafened them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Operation: Find Jeremy" is courtesy of my boyfriend. I asked him what to name a rescue mission and that was his answer. 
> 
> This AU is going to cannibalize every other AU into one monster AU*  
> *not really. I can barely keep the details straight as it is. But I will fit as many Stans in here as possible. Maybe.
> 
> I've been so excited about getting to this part, so I apologize for not including OG Stan. Next chapter may or may not include him.
> 
> I hope you enjoyed!


	7. I think with my heart and I move with my head

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hey bro, how much coffee did you have today?  
> Don’t worry about that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I finished this chapter at a normal time this time :)

He couldn’t remember their names. There were four of them. The two youngest were twins, and related to him...somehow. One was a teen, and would rather be at work than home most of the time. The oldest was 20? Maybe older...older than him, anyway.

Were they even real? Was that a dream? Was this a dream?

“Stan, it’s 3 am. Please be quiet,” Ford mumbled from the other side of the room. 

“Sorry, Sixer,” Stan replied. This.  _ This  _ was real, no doubt about it. It probably had been a bad dream. It had to be. He would never forget anyone that had felt that important to him.

“You have everything sorted out for school, right?” Shermie asked, resting a hand on each of the twin’s shoulders.

“Of course, Sherman. I made sure all my information was up to date when we went by the office earlier. And I made sure to take Dad’s information off of everything as well,” Ford smiled, playfully elbowing Stan in the side. Stan elbowed him back with an identical grin.

“Good. Stan, you have everything ready for work? Uniform, schedule?”

“You don’t have to worry so much about us, Shermie. We’re not kids, y’know.”

“You were kids until two months ago, remember?. I trust you two to take care of each other, but let your big brother worry a little, alright?” He pulled them both into a hug, “and if you need help, you can always call me. You should call me anyway, check in every once in a while.” He let them go.

“Thanks bro.”

“We appreciate everything you’re helping us with.”

“Hey, what are big brothers for? You two are gonna do great things.”

Something was wrong. This wasn’t how his life was supposed to go. He was the screw up, the good for nothing son. Things  _ were not  _ supposed to work out for him. But he couldn’t remember why he felt this way. He was with his brothers, so everything must be ok. He and Ford had moved into a tiny apartment not far from Ford’s school. He had gotten a job at a nearby factory, not the most fun but better than scraping taffy would’ve been. 

But now he was lying awake, knowing something was missing. He hadn’t felt like this two weeks ago. It was like he woke up one day and just...knew there was something he was forgetting. Maybe it was those people in his dream? He was probably just worried about the future. They might not be off sailing, but at least he and Ford were together. Unlike last time…

“Last time?” Stan yelped, eyes snapping open. He quickly slapped his hands over his mouth, looking over to Ford. Thankfully, his twin hadn’t stirred. Stan got up out of his bed, walking out into the apartment’s small kitchen. He didn’t notice his hands were shaking until he tried to fill a glass of water. “What is going on?” he mumbled to himself, trying desperately to remember anything. Somewhere in the back of his mind, those four people came up again. But who were they? It had to have been a dream. It  _ had  _ to be a dream, there wasn’t any other explanation. If they were that important to him, he would remember them.

“Stan?” Ford’s sleepy voice called from down the hall. “Stanley what’s wrong?” He made his way into the kitchen, sitting down at the table across from Stan. 

“Nothin’, Ford,” he said softly.

“Don’t lie to me.” Ford yawned, head tilting down for a moment before snapping back up. “I know you haven’t been sleeping well for the past few weeks.”

“I’m just worried, y’know?” That  _ had  _ to be it. “We’ve never been on our own. But I didn’t want Shermie to worry.”

“We’re not on our own, knucklehead,” Ford let out a sleepy laugh, “we’ll always have each other.” And he was out.

“Thanks, Sixer,” he sighed, “you couldn’t walk back to bed?” He shook his brother just enough to get him to his feet, and walked/carried him back to his bed.

“I’ve got a great plan. Anyone says anything about your hands, I’ll go to class as you one day and deck ‘em,” Stan laughed over breakfast.

“Violence doesn’t solve everything, you know,” Ford laughed back. “While I’m sure someone might comment on it, I’m hoping for the most part students here will be more mature, like us.” He almost took back his words, as Stan stuffed an entire pancake in his mouth. “You know you can’t pick fights at work.”

“Me? Pick a fight? Stanford I would  _ never _ .”

Ford was silent for a second, considering his words, before he broke out into laughter. “I’m serious, Stan,” he took a deep breath.

“I promise I won’t start anything,” Stan assured him. He nodded back, knowing that was the best he was going to get from his twin.

Lakeside Tech obviously wasn’t Ford’s first choice. But after the debacle with the science fair, it was going to be perfect. It wasn’t until he had been accepted, but he learned that every year Lakeside and West Coast Tech had a joint engineering fair. And he was going to win and shove it in the face of those jerks that had turned him down. 

Walking into a giant lecture room for his freshman orientation, he wished nothing more than to have Stan with him. Maybe he had felt suffocated by being looped in with Stan all the time. But suddenly being on his own like this felt wrong. Even knowing he would see his brother in the evening, this first day was still going to be rough. 

He slid into a row that hadn’t filled yet, hoping whoever sat near him wouldn’t notice his hands. That was something he’d rather deal with tomorrow, once he got used to being by himself. He pulled out a notebook, starting a small sketch of the room while he waited for the presentation to start. 

It wasn’t on purpose, but Stan was so glad that his first day of work was the same day as Ford’s first classes. If Ford had started first, he would’ve been bored in the apartment all day, worrying about his brother. But instead of worrying, he got to work with power tools. Which was  _ so much cooler _ than the hammer and nails he and Ford had used to work on the Stan O’War. 

There was a group of about ten, all around his age, starting that day. The work itself didn’t seem too bad, and it was decent pay. Something still wasn’t sitting right with the whole working thing, but he pushed it aside. Working with his hands for eight hours a day was hopefully going to distract him from whatever that was.

The best part about his day was that all the other newbies kept going to him for help. Maybe it was his natural charisma, but they all had decided he was the one to go to. Even though he wasn’t the best with the tools, and a couple of the guys were a few years older, Stan was the one they were talking to. He had tried to brush them off annoyed at first, but then would do his best to answer their questions anyway. While he couldn’t remember ever being someone to look up to, it felt good.

“Stanley!” Ford sprang up from the couch. He had gotten home a few hours before Stan got off work, and had been patiently ( _ impatiently _ ) waiting for him to get back. A few energetic strides and he was standing in front of his twin, a wide grin on his face.

“Woah, what’s up, Ford?” Stan asked, taking a hesitant step back. Ford this excited usually meant they were going to get in trouble for something.

“One of the reasons I wanted to go to Lakeside is their yearly competition with West Coast Tech,” he explained, pulling his brother into the kitchen. “Look at this!” He held up a flyer to Stan, who squinted at it, finding it hard to focus with Ford’s shaking hands.

“Hey bro, how much coffee did you have today?” Stan took the paper and glanced over it.

“Don’t worry about that. But read it!”

The flyer was about the fair, but a few lines were highlighted, most likely by the twin currently bouncing on his toes. 

“Apply to West Coast Tech but got rejected by their snobby college board? Here’s your chance to rub it in their faces. All Freshman applications for the engineering fair are accepted.” Stan looked up from the paper, and Ford’s grin only seemed to have gotten wider. “So are ya’ gonna make like, a time machine or something?” 

“I don’t know! But whatever it is, they’ll regret telling me I’m not “unique enough”,” Ford rolled his eyes. For being the “nerdy” and “well behaved” twin, Ford was always the more spiteful of the two. Stan could forgive and forget (except for a few notable examples), but Ford could hold a grudge like no other.

“Whatever you build, I’ll be there for you poindexter.”

* * *

“FORD WHAT HELL IS THAT?” Stan’s voice echoed through the canyon they found themselves in. He pushed Mabel and Dipper behind him, away from the creature staring them down.

“It’s fine, Stanley. Just no sudden movements and it’ll turn it’s attention elsewhere in a moment,” Ford replied, focusing on the multiple devices in his hands. “I must have changed the wrong parameters after the last dimension.” He glanced back at his companions. This younger version of Stan was much more cooperative than his actual brother, and was listening to him for the moment. It was probably just because he was protecting the kids, but he could pretend it was because his brother respected him

“Alright. You two ok?” Stan looked down at the kids. 

“Yeah, we see stuff like this everyday,” Dipper said, but clutched his young uncle’s arm a little tighter. 

“Oooo you wanna hear about the time our you fight a real dinosaur?” Mabel chirped.

“A real dinosaur? Not just Old Man Ford over here?” Stan laughed, receiving a glare from Ford. 

Ford opened his mouth to comment, when the creature decided they were interesting. It turned it’s large snake-like body around, letting out something between a hiss and a roar. 

“What do we - ”

“We run,” Ford ordered. He scooped Dipper up under his arm, Stan followed likewise with Mabel and they took off. “I’m almost done with the adjustments, once we’re out of it’s sight we should be fine.”

The creature’s steps echoed around the canyon as they ran, just fast enough to gain some distance from it. Rounding a corner, several small caves covered one wall. Diving into one, Ford let go of Dipper and quickly adjusted the dials on his devices. “It’ll just take a minute,” he said. The creature let out another roar from losing sight of them. It shuffled towards the caves, searching.

“Anytime now Poindexter,” Stan hissed. He pulled them deeper into the cave, hoping the creature would just give up. Ford didn’t acknowledge him, too focused on the device. The creature stopped in front of their cave, letting out a low growl. It bent down, reaching a scaly arm in. It’s swipe missed them, and it let out another roar. 

It reached in again, nearly snagging Ford's coat, just as he activated the device and opened up a portal. “See, nothing to worry about!” he said, pulling his companions through.

“Kids cover your ears,” Stan said, grabbing Ford by the collar. “How the  **fuck** did you survive over forty years without me? It’s been three  _ days  _ and you’ve almost gotten yourself, not to mention your niece and nephew, killed!” he snarled.

Ford pushed him away. “We were fine,” he retorted. “Don’t try to act like-”

“Hey guys, you might uh, wanna look over there?” Dipper piped up. He and Mabel were dutifully covering their ears, but were looking at something in the distance. 

They had landed on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere. On either side was desert that stretched out for miles. The moon was high in the sky, one of two sources of light. The other was a set of cars pulled over, far enough that they could hear voices but not what they were saying. But whatever it was, they were angry.

“So uh, your tracker thing, it’s supposed to be bringing us to different versions of me, right?” Stan asked, staring down at the cars.

“That is correct.” Ford said, reaching for his gun. Giant reptile ready to eat them? No need for violence. People potentially hurting his brother before he had the chance to yell at him? They would be lucky to get away. “You three stay here,” he whispered, moving towards the cars. He paused for a moment as one of the men was thrown to the ground. It looked like there was a group of men picking at someone in the middle. Even from the distance, Ford was sure the one in the middle was Stan. Another man was knocked down, and the group seemed to get angrier.

“Hey Dipper, didn’t Grunkle Stan say he had to chew his way out of a trunk once?” Mabel whispered to her brother. Dipper nodded solemnly.

“I had to do what?” Stan asked, looking down at the twins, then to Ford, then to the group of men. “We’re doing this my way then. You two be better than me, and don’t move.” He took off, running past Ford who had covered half the distance. 

“Stan, wait!” he hissed, before running after the younger man. The group of men were still preoccupied at the moment, trying to subdue the man in the middle.

“Hey assholes!” Stan howled, decking the closest man. He grinned, but was immediately sucker punched by another. “Oh sh-” another punch cut him off. He doubled over, realizing he may be a bit in over his head. Being with the bikers he always had back up. Here...he had an old man and two children.

“Who the hell is this kid?” One of the men spoke, pulling him up by the collar of his jacket. As the man raised his fist, he let out a yelp of pain. Dropping Stan, the man looked over to see Ford approaching, gun recharging after the first shot had sliced through his back.

With the distraction, the man in the middle threw another guy to the ground. Scrambling to his feet, Stan jumped back beside Ford, who was making short work of the men there. He wasn’t aiming to hurt them too badly, just enough for them to realize they were no match for him. Quickly, they all fled, leaving one man standing.

His guess was correct, there was no mistaking that this was Stan. Most likely not the one they were looking for though, if he had ended up in this situation. Cautiously he approached, with the younger Stan following behind.

“Ford, did you  _ clone  _ me?” Was the first thing out of the man’s mouth. The Stan behind him broke out in uncontrollable laughter. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Suddenly realizing that having several characters with the same name is going to get confusing (don't worry, I think Mabel has a plan). 
> 
> I hope you enjoyed, let me know how you guys like it so far :)


	8. Because I'm about to break down, searching for a way out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “C’mon, y’think I’m that nerd? I’m his twin.”  
> “No way! Why aren’t your hands freaky?”

"Y'think Ford likes us enough to clone us?" Young Stan #1 laughed. He brushed past Ford up to the new version of himself. Young Stan #2 squinted at him with his good(ish) eye. He was standing, albeit barely, in front of them. Judging by the disheveled mullet, he was close to thirty, close to when Ford would send him the post card. Obviously he was in trouble with someone, judging by the fight they had just broken up. One eye was swollen shut, and the other looked on its way there.

“How did you recognize me so quickly?” Ford asked, pulling Stan #1 back. 

“What other six fingered nerd would bring a laser gun to  _ any  _ kind of fight?” Stan #2 shrugged. “Thanks, by the way,” he said, more directed towards his younger self.

“Yeah, no problem. The munchkins mentioned me getting locked in a trunk and-” 

“The kids!” Ford yelped, suddenly remembering his niece and nephew. He turned to look for them. While it was dark, he could see two silhouettes in the spot he had left them. “You two, don’t move,” he commanded, met with an eye roll from both of the Stans.

“Thank you for staying put,” he said as he ran up to the younger twins. The two of them were sitting on the edge of the road, whispering to each other as he had approached.

“No problem, Grunkle Ford,” Mabel smiled, standing up. She looked down at Dipper, who reluctantly handed her a grappling hook.

“I had to take it away from her or else she was gonna run over there,” Dipper explained. 

“Nah, their Shermie’s grandkids.” Ford turned to see both Stans had ignored him, and were walking up to them.

“Ford, how did anyone trust  _ you _ with two kids? You can barely take care of yourself!” The new young Stan shouted. 

“I can take care of myself just fine, Stanley. And they were originally left in your care,” Ford scowled back at him. Both versions of his brother seemed to have the same opinion of him, that he was incapable of being on his own.

“Hi Grunkle Stan!” Mabel grinned, running forward to greet him. “I’m Mabel and that’s Dipper-” she pointed to her brother, “-and we’re your favorite people, like, ever!” 

“She’s right, these monsters’ll grow on you, ” Stan said, patting Mabel’s head. 

“So uh, that’s great and all. But my head’s sorta cleared up now, so can any of you explain what the hell’s going on?”

Ford had spent thirty years traveling through the multiverse by himself. He had witnessed unbelievable things. He had made friends and enemies, had almost died on several occasions, and had seen horrors beyond anyone's imagination. After all those years, he thought he had a handle on how to navigate through the thousands of dimensions. But now it felt like he was drifting through the multiverse for the first time again.

He had thought creating a tracking device to find his brother would’ve been simple. Of course it would take a few dimensions to work out the bugs. But over the three days they had been traveling, only the first dimension they had entered had been promising. The younger version of Stan that had insisted on coming with them was the only one they had been able to track down. The dimension after that was full of spider people (bad), then a fully underwater dimension (how the physics worked he would like to study), then a dimension of sentient plants (bad). Ford had stopped keeping track of how many they had crossed through in the short amount of time they had been out. 

And now they had finally found another Stan. But he wasn’t  _ their  _ Stan. It shouldn’t matter to him as much as it did. Seeing how quickly his brother kept recognizing him was not sitting right. How quickly these two versions of Stan were bonding with the kids, having known them for just minutes. Both of these Stans hadn’t seen their Ford in several years. The last time they saw him he would have been closing the blinds and turning away. And the next time they saw him he would greet them with a loaded crossbow. And then a punch to the face, if he were to fall through the portal.

“It’s my fault, Stanley,” he whispered. Not loud enough for anyone to hear. But he hoped wherever his brother had ended up, he would forgive him. He straightened up, hoping no one would notice the tear tugging at his eye. “I will try to keep the explanation brief.”

* * *

It took a week before Stan really noticed something was wrong. He had been at work for about two hours that day, chugging away at his station. It was repetitive work, so once he got started it was a lot of muscle memory. Which meant his mind would start to wander, and he would look around at his coworkers. For most of the week they had still been coming to him for help, making him feel like the leader of their group. So every once in a while he would check around, just to make sure that everyone was doing ok. And that's when he saw it. 

One of the guys was drilling, and it slipped. The bit dug right into his hand. But the guy didn’t even seem to care. He pulled the drill out, leaving a hole in his hand. No blood or anything. And then a second later, the hole had covered up like it had never happened. 

Now, he had felt like something was wrong for a while. In the back of his head he just  _ knew  _ things were going too well for him. But whatever the fuck had just happened confirmed that something bad was happening. His gut was telling him to keep what he saw to himself, and he decided to do just that. Head down, he spent the rest of the day focusing as hard as he could on his work. 

“Ford, has anything weird happened?” Stan asked when he got home. Ford had his head in a book, scribbling away at his homework. Stan had spent the day trying to convince himself that what had happened, hadn’t happened. It didn’t work.

“Weirder than you?” Ford looked up, smiling at his brother. Seeing the distraught look on Stan’s face, he closed the book. Stan sat down at the table across from him, head in his hands. “Stan?”

“Something  _ fucking weird  _ is going on Sixer.” He took a deep breath. Over the last month the two of them had gotten a lot closer, but Stan still wasn’t one to talk about his issues. This wasn’t something he could just keep to himself though. “I feel like I forgot something really important. And things have felt so wrong the past few weeks.” He sighed, there was no way Ford was going to understand. “And then something happened at work. But I’m not sure it happened. But if it happened then whatever is going on is probably really bad.”

“Stan, you’re not making sense.”

“I saw one of the guys drill into his own hand then act like nothing was wrong and there wasn’t any blood but there was a hole left in his hand but it closed up.” Saying it all in one breath was the only way he was going to get it out. Thankfully Ford’s brain was always working fast enough that he could keep up with it. 

“Are you sure that’s what happened?” Ford wasn’t going to believe him. Of course Ford wasn’t going to believe him. He wouldn’t believe himself. Sure they had seen weird shit happen when they were younger but nothing had happened in a long time. “I went to lunch with some of my classmates and one of them sliced clean through her thumb with a knife. She didn’t react at all, I thought I imagined it.”

Oh. He did believe him. “I don’t know if that makes me feel better.”

“You’re off tomorrow, right? We need to do some investigating on this.” Ford picked up a pen and flipped to a blank page in his notebook. “How long have you had a bad feeling? I haven’t done too much research on anomalies outside of New Jersey yet, so we should stop by the library in the morning. Do you know what time you saw this happen? Maybe -” Ford started mumbling on with different questions. 

“Here’s every book about anomalies I can find. Since both of us have witnessed something it’s highly likely that it’s a location specific anomaly.” Ford set down a pile of books on the table. The campus library was gigantic, and luckily there were only a few other students around. 

“So what’s the plan then?” Stan asked, looking over his shoulder. 

“I’ll skim through the books here and see what I can find. You should keep an eye on anyone near us, and make sure to record anything weird.” He set to work, immediately zoned out from anything outside of the books. 

Stan got bored after half an hour. Ford was quickly jotting notes down, fully absorbed in his book. Stan had been keeping an eye out, and did his best not to fall asleep (Ford had insisted on an early start, it was barely 8am on a  _ weekend _ ). But there was only so long he could sit there without actually doing something. He got up, and wrote a note for Ford, who was in too deep to notice he had said anything.

Walking around a library was very low on the list of things Stan would ever do by himself. Whenever he ended up in one it was with Ford and he always stuck nearby. But other than whatever was happening, he was pretty confident Ford wasn’t going to get ambushed by a bunch of bullies and was safe.

The few students in the library had their heads stuck in books like his brother, so he didn’t expect anything noticeably weird to happen here. He left the library, and looked around. The campus was dead since it was early on a Saturday morning, so Stan didn’t expect too much to happen. 

“Yo! Pines!” A voice yelled from behind him. He turned around to see a small group of students walking up to him. He hadn’t been mixed up with Ford in a long time. 

“C’mon y’think I’m that nerd?” Stan said with a grin. The group regarded him with confusion. “I’m his twin,” he said to clarify.

“No way!” Another one of them said, grabbing for his hands. “Why aren’t your hands freaky?”

Did Stan mean to hit the guy? Yes, definitely. Did he mean to hit him as hard as he did? Ehhhh, no. Maybe he could’ve asked them not to use the word ‘freaky’ when talking about his brother. But Stan was much better at talking with his fists when it came to stuff like that. So he decked the guy. And he fell to the ground. And there were three other guys and Stan realized he may have fucked up a little.

He held his arms up, backing up a step. “Sorry man, reflex, y’know?” he laughed awkwardly. The guy on the ground stood up, brushing himself off. “Oh, it’s my bad. Shouldn’t have done that, huh? Touchy subject?” He grinned, just a little too wide for Stan’s comfort. He took a step towards Stan, who backed up in response. 

“Yeah, I uh-” Stan was cut off by a punch. 

Ford looked up from his book. He blinked a few times, readjusting from the text. The note with Stan’s scribbled handwriting caught his eye.

_ Hey Sixer. Got bored, headed outside. I won’t go far, and I’ll keep an eye out for weird things. Later. _

Ford sighed, and stood up. He stretched his back from being hunched over for the past hour, and looked around. There had been a few other students around when they got there but now he was alone. The books he had been skimming through hadn’t had too much information, so he packed up his notebooks and headed outside.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Maybe one day Ford will find his brother ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯
> 
> Two things:  
> (1) I've been trying to update about once a week (give or take a few days). But I'm out of town next week so it might be a bit of a longer wait  
> (2) having said that, if you want you can bother me on tumblr until I update! @ cali-brate :)
> 
> Hope you enjoyed! I appreciate you taking the time to read this <3


	9. To give one's whole life and find nothing's remembered

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I- I’m scared, Stan. We’re alone and -”  
> “Hey, we’re not alone as long as we have each other"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had to force myself to write this chapter right now because I know if I didn't it would be like 3 months before I updated. So the first half is some nice 1am writing :)

Ford couldn’t say he remembered how he got to where he was. One second he was leaving the library, the next he had decked a guy for hurting his brother. It was like he had blacked out for the few moments it had taken him to reach the group of students, but he was brought back to reality when one of them had rammed into his right side.

“Stan!” he cried, stumbling and reaching out towards his brother.

“Oh Ford! We were looking for you,” the one he had decked smiled. He grabbed Ford’s arm reaching out towards Stan, straightening him up on his feet.

“Get away from me, Lucas,” Ford growled. It wasn’t often that he was the one protecting Stan, but that was all that mattered at the moment. He rushed past Lucas, reaching again for his brother. Stan reached back this time, pulling him up next to him.

“Oh c’mon, we were just playing,” Lucas rolled his eyes as he took a step towards the twins. Stan’s lip was bleeding and he had a cut on his cheek, one eye was starting to bruise, and Lucas called this “playing”. He instinctively put himself between Stan and the other men. 

“Hey Sixer, I think things are really fucked up here,” Stan mumbled. He leaned into his brother, keeping his eyes locked on the others around them.

“You Pines are just like the boss said. Hurt one and the other comes running.” Lucas laughed, his face contorting into a grin almost too wide for his face.

Ford looked back at Lucas, confused. “The boss...?”

“Oh, uh, ignore that.” Lucas looked worried for a moment, but quickly regained his composure. “Let's get out of here guys,” he turned to the others. The three of them nodded, walking away. “If you know what’s good for you, you’ll stop digging, Stanford.”

“Stan, what happened?” Ford asked. They hadn’t talked the entire way home.

“The one guy, Lucas? He thought I was you. One of them called your hands  _ freaky, _ ” he scowled, saying that word, “so I hit him.”

“Did they say anything? Like Lucas mentioned a boss?”

Stan shrugged. “Other than the creepy ass smiles, I thought they were just being assholes at first. They kept mumbling something. I couldn’t hear what they were saying, but their voices just sounded  _ weird _ .” He looked down at his hands. They were bandaged up from the fight, which had taken quite a toll. “You punched the one guy, right? Did it feel strange?”

Ford narrowed his eyes in confusion. “What do you mean?”

“You know how many fights I’ve been in. My hands’ve never been this bad in that short of time. They felt- they felt more  _ solid. _ ”

“I - you know I’m not the one usually doing the punching,” Ford looked down at his own hands, “but I think you’re right, something felt off.”

“I hate everything about this.”

  
  


It was past 2am before the twins felt like going to sleep. Stan double and triple checked both the doors, even leaning chairs up against them to prevent anyone forcing them open. Ford checked the windows and closed all the blinds. As a last precaution Stan brought the bat he carried in his car into bed with him. 

“Do ya think we’re overreacting?” Stan yawned, wrapping his arm around the bat. 

Ford looked over at him from the other bed. “After what we’ve witnessed over the past few days? Not at all.” He pulled his blanket up around his shoulders, mumbling “I would say we’re underreacting, after what happened today.”

Stan nodded, reaching for the lamp. “G’night Sixer.”

The streak of peaceful dreams Stan had been having the last few months was over. There were voices he knew but couldn’t remember, calling for him. They sounded like panicked children, screaming his name over and over and over. The scenery around him was constantly changing. At first it was a dark forest, then it was a beach, before it settled on a house. He couldn’t remember seeing a house like it. It was relatively large, sitting in the middle of a forest, and judging by the stars in the sky it was far from a big city. As he approached, the children’s voices got louder and louder. But as soon as he reached the door, it went silent.

An inviting yellow glow was shining out from behind the door. A sound from behind him made him pause in his reach for the door knob. Turning around, there were two figures standing there. They were small, standing side by side. Their faces were obscured, but he knew they were the ones who had been reaching out for him. He took a step down from the porch. The soft yellow that had been leaking out from the door turned into an angry red. He took another step towards the figures, and now a low rumble started from behind the door.

One of the figures started towards him. It reached out, but no matter how many steps he took it stayed the same distance away. The rumbling behind him got louder, and he started to move his legs faster. No voice came out as he tried to yell out to figures. Finally he seemed to be inching closer to them, when he was hit by something.

Startling awake, Stan grabbed for his bat. The light was on, and with a quick glance he realized it was Ford who had woken him up.

“Stan, are you ok?” Ford asked, concerned. He was sitting up on his bed, safely out of reach of the bat.

“Yeah, why?” he replied. The clock showed it was 4am, he had barely been asleep an hour at this point.

“You looked like you were trying to run somewhere, and you kept mumbling something.”

The dream had started fading as soon as he woke up. But he knew there was something up with it. “Ford, I don’t think I belong here.” He rolled onto his back, staring up at the ceiling. “I feel like there’s something,  _ someone _ , I should remember. But I can’t. And I think they were in the dream I was having.”

“Stan, of course you belong here. Well, maybe not  _ here _ .” Ford let out an uncertain laugh.“Who would you be forgetting?”

“I don’t know, that’s the problem. There’s a few of them, but the two youngest seem like the most important. They were the ones in my dream. They sounded scared, Ford.”

“I-  _ I’m  _ scared, Stan,” Ford said softly. Except for Stan’s fear of heights, neither of the twins ever admitted to being scared. “I don’t know what’s going on. There’s no explanation for what’s going on. We’re alone and -”

“Hey,” Stan interrupted Ford, rolling back over to face him, “we’re not alone as long as we have each other.” He poked Ford’s knee with the bat, “we’ll figure this shit out.”

Ford poured himself a cup of coffee, and grabbed another mug for Stan. It had been a long time since Ford hadn’t been able to sleep. He burned his mouth on the coffee as he chugged it down. Everything was wrong. And it was unlikely anyone would be able to help them. 

“What do you think Lucas meant by ‘the boss’? And telling us to stop digging?” Ford asked, as he poured his second cup of coffee. He sat down across from Stan, who was staring blankly into his mug. They hadn’t discussed too much yesterday, just trying to calm down from whatever was going on. The situation wouldn’t have seemed strange except for those comments. Stan was bound to get in a fight at some point while they were there, that was expected.

“Whatever it is, we’re in deep shit.” Stan looked up at his brother. “Everything was going too well for me.”

“Stop that,” Ford punched his brother in the shoulder, “things should go well for you.”

“Yeah, well if it hadn’t been for that stupid wish we wouldn’t be-” he stopped, confused at his own words.

“Did you say ‘wish’? What do you mean?”

“I don’t...know.” Stan ran his hands through his hair, trying to figure out why he had said that. “I think that might be what I’m forgetting.”

“Stan, is there anything you can remember?”

_ “Stan! You’ll never guess where we were!”  _ A voice called out at him. It was the same voice as the figure that had reached out to him in the dream. She had said something before his name, but it came out garbled in his memories. He could almost focus on her blurry figure and the one next to her. The one who was talking had a bright colored sweater on, and the boy next to her was wearing a hat. Between them was a bright glowing light. The scene around them was too blurry for him to identify.

_ “You two get in a fight or something?”  _ He had asked them. Whoever the two figures in front of him were, he knew he cared a lot about them. The girl took in a deep breath, launching into an excited explanation

_ “YEAH! It’s called Globnar! We met the time travel guy again and he said he wanted to help us since we helped him! And he-”  _ She went on and on with her explanation. Stan knew he had stopped paying close attention, as the voice in his memory started to fade. 

_ “Anyway, we thought we’d give you the time wish!”  _ The boy cut in. The two of them shifted the glowing orb towards him, and then he was facing his brother.

Stan opened his eyes, blinking a few times as they adjusted to the light. He had pressed his palms into his eye sockets, trying his best to focus on the forgotten memory, leaving blanks spots in his vision.

“Did you figure something out?” Ford asked, placing a hand onto his shoulder. His voice had a mix of concern and determination.

“Ford, what are the chances time travel is real?”

“I’d say there’s a high probability it is possible. Why?”

“I can just barely remember something. There were two kids, who knew me. And they gave me something called a timewish, and then you were there. I, I don’t know what any of it was. They mentioned a ‘time travel guy’.” Stan looked up at his brother, who was furiously taking notes. “It doesn’t make sense, right?”

“Well, going with the theory that somehow you did time travel, maybe something bad happens in the future? You said after they gave you the wish, I was there. Can you remember anything else?”

Stan shut his eyes again, trying to think. He still couldn’t identify who the kids were, or where he was at the time. But thinking about it, he felt  _ sad _ . Not a normal sad. He felt hopeless, like he had nothing left. “I think something happened between us. The memory just feels sad.”

“Oh good! Well, not...not  _ good  _ but maybe this will help us figure out what happened!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Good news: according to my outline there'll be about 16 total chapters! I have up to chapter 13 planned out, but I'm still working on what comes after that. 
> 
> Next chapter will focus on the multiverse squad! All the Stans! :D
> 
> Thank you for reading, and I appreciate everyone leaving kudos and comments <3


	10. Oh dear brother, just don't hate me, for never standing by you or being by your side

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ford takes a nap

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi!

Ford glanced around at his companions from over his coffee cup. Well, it was sort of coffee. It didn't taste quite right but it was full of caffeine and that was all that mattered. After a few more exhausting days of Ford trying to corral not one, but  _ two  _ younger versions of his twin brother, as well as their great niece and nephew, he needed a break. By himself he could go for a long time without one. But having to keep track of others was new to him. ( _ After being berated by both Stans about losing Mabel momentarily in one universe where everything was kittens, he was trying harder to watch the kids _ ). 

They were sitting in a multiverse diner, surprisingly similar to the 24 hour ones back on earth. The food was always strange, but edible at least. And it was one of the safer places they had ended up in, anyway. Somehow it seemed the more he updated the tracking device, the harder it was to find any version of Stan that could be  _ his  _ brother. 

Up until he was gone, Ford  _ hated _ Stan for what he had done. Starting up the portal was not only incredibly dangerous, but he had ruined the only opportunity Ford had had to stop the dream demon that had been haunting him. Stan had never listened to him. He never thought about anyone but himself. He never - 

“Oh yeah! One time a dinosaur tried to eat my pig and Grunkle Stan punched it in the face!” Mabel’s excited voice knocked him out of his thoughts. Her voice was pure glee as she recounted the tale. Dipper kept her from exaggerating too much, clamping his hand over her mouth. 

Ford has always felt that he was better off without Stan. The past forty years had supported that.

“Oooo! Dipper tell them about the time Grunkle Stan saved us from the zombies!”

“Woah woah woah.  _ Zombies _ ?”

The young twins didn’t seem to care that they had summoned the undead as they told the story. They were children, and never thought about how dangerous things could be until it was too late. But even with the danger, Stan was there to protect them. To put himself between the kids and the zombie hoard. 

He was  _ wrong _ . He was so, so wrong. Sure, he had managed to get through undergrad and eventually all twelve PHDs. 

“And this creep Gideon stole the Mystery Shack from us but Stan figured out that he was using ~hidden cameras~ to spy on the town!” Mabel spent several minutes talking about the times they had dealt with the child psychic. How Dipper had had to fight him. How Stan had never believed the psychic gimmick, and unlike the rest of the town saw through Gideon. 

Sure, he had been able to study the weirdness of Gravity Falls like he wanted.

“And there was the time he helped me prove to Wendy that Robbie was using mind control to date her.” Dipper rambled on, trying to pretend his crush on Wendy wasn’t obvious. He explained that Stan believed him right away, and had helped him through until the end.

He had never taken the time to think about how his brother was doing. Stan who had stood up for him for years against the bullies. Stan who up until the science fair had always supported him. Stan who - 

Ford looked down. Mabel had wiggled her way under his arm and wrapped her around him, pulling him into a tight hug. Before he could ask why she was doing it, more arms came around his right side, and Dipper squeezed him as well.

“It’s ok Grunkle Ford, we’re gonna find our Stan,” Mabel mumbled. 

“Wh-” Ford started to ask why the sudden hugs. But hearing his own voice crack, and realizing there were tears streaming down his face, he understood. So lost in thought about his brother, he hadn’t even noticed. 

He did notice when both Stans joined in on the hug. When was the last time he had hugged his brother? When they were fifteen maybe? Over forty years had passed since he had been this close with his brother. And it wasn’t even  _ his  _ brother. But all Stans, it was apparent, felt the same way about Ford. He’s their brother, and that meant they would do anything for him.

“How do y’think dad would react to this?” The older Stan asked.

“Oh he’d send us out the door.”

“ _ Crying should be left to women, son. Men don’t make a show of their emotions like some attention seeking bi- _ like some attention seeking lady.”

“We should try to go back in time and beat up great grandpa,” Mabel whispered not-so-quietly to Dipper.

Ford pulled the four of them in as close as possible. He had been justified in his anger at Stan, for sure. But maybe he  _ had _ overreacted a bit. Even with all his warnings, Stan wouldn’t have known the exact danger he was causing. And maybe if Stan had been around earlier, if he had  _ trusted anyone besides a literal demon _ , they wouldn’t be in this mess. If he had reached out to Stan earlier things wouldn’t have gotten this bad. He pushed his way out of his family’s hold, standing up.

“We should get moving.”

Of course, by ‘get moving” what happened was Ford passed out. Going non-stop for days and sudden love from his family - he needed a nap. 

  
  


Six hours later, Ford slowly awoke to the two Stans taking turns telling wildly inappropriate stories to the kids. But he couldn’t help but smile at the over exaggerating way Stan had always told stories. He laid there for a moment, letting the older Stan finish his story, as well as taking inventory of their surroundings. He should be mad that they had let him sleep at all, but knowing they were doing this out of love for him, he’d let it slide this once. 

“Thank you, Stanley,” Ford murmured after a moment, sitting up.

“AHHHHGRUNKLEFORDYOU’REAWAKEIWASSOWORRIED!!!” Mabel screeched, knocking Ford flat with a hug.

“See kid, told ya he was alright.”

“Yeah, as long as he’s still got a pulse, it’s all good.”

“Stan is that...really? That’s your measure for if someone is ‘all good’?” Ford laughed.

“I told them we should take you to a doctor but no one wanted to listen to me,” Dipper mumbled. Ford pulled him up into a hug.

“I appreciate at least one of you has common sense.”

“How’re you feeling?” the older Stan asked, offering to hand to help Ford up.

“Better than I have in a long time.” he smiled, taking the hand. “I need to find my brother so I can apologize to  _ him _ .” He took the tracking device out of his pocket. “Luckily, my brain keeps working even when I’m asleep. I think I know the correct input this time.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What's that? It's been like a month? Whoops! 
> 
> I wanted this chapter to go differently but I just could not get myself to write it that way, so I just scrapped it.  
> I appreciate everyone who's reading, and I love reading your comments, it really does help me to keep writing. 
> 
> Hopefully I get the next chapter out a little sooner, but thank you guys for sticking with me <3


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